OVERVIEW
OIT provides telephone services to eligible University of Idaho locations. Standard hardware and services are centrally funded, and users must adhere to the best practices and guidelines specified in this article and through official university communications.
All users provided with a telephone must demonstrate a legitimate business need.
Best Practices and Guidelines Highlights:
- All requests for new services or changes to current services must be submitted via the OIT service portal. The specific form for phone requests is located here.
- Individual users are limited to a single phone license/device (Physical handset). Users may request a business exception for extenuating circumstances. Business exceptions should be discussed with your TSP.
- Any individual phone device/license will be turned off within five days of the employee's contract termination date.
- OIT will not cover the cost of peripherals not included with a standard phone kit (Bluetooth accessories, etc).
- Shared departmental phones (for example: "Financial Aid" or "Student Accounts") will be managed by an authorized UI employee. If an owner is terminated from the University of Idaho, the department is responsible for contacting OIT to have ownership transferred.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How is billing handled?
At the start of FY18, the cost of the VoIP service provided by ITS was moved to a centralized fund. Departments are no longer billed monthly for VoIP phone service.
Is there a way of separating Vandal Alerts for the Moscow campus and Extension Centers?
The Vandal Alert service and the new telephone system are separate services.
If Moscow's phone service is down, will Boise's phone service be down?
While the new phone system rides on UI’s data network and the reliability of our data network have been excellent, there are any number of circumstances that could affect the telephone service; however, since the new telephone service is hosted by Ednetics and redundant networking paths are built in outages of the phone service will be minimized and no location will be reliant on another for the phone service.
Which phone model do you recommend?
Most people are using the Cisco 7841 IP phone. This is a basic phone that works well for most needs. However, phones with video calling and other features are available. Please work with your department to determine which model best fits your needs. A phone model may be provided based on stock at the time of request regardless of what is requested.
For more information on phone models and features, click here.
If I connect my personal cell phone to my UI telephone number, will my cell plan be charged?
This depends on your cellular plan and provider. Connecting your work phone to a cellular phone is a personal choice, as no employee is required to connect their work phone to their cell (although many do for convenience). If you have a UI-provided cellular phone, work with your supervisor regarding the use of this feature. For a personal phone, consult your carrier for a more definitive answer.
Will we be able to video conference with multiple people?
As of today, video calls will only work from one video phone to another. We do recommend using Zoom or Teams for full-featured video conferencing. Contact your TSP for more information.
What are the 5-digit dialing prefixes?
- 5 - Moscow
- 2 - Coeur d'Alene
- 4 - Boise
- 7 - Idaho Falls
- 1 - Parma
Who do I contact for support?
The OIT Phones Team, in conjunction with TSPs, System Administrators, and the Student Technology Center will provide phone support. The University's Knowledge Base is also a great resource for finding information on a range of technical subjects. You can access the Knowledge Base at support.uidaho.edu.